odernisation of the fishing harbour here is under way in full swing. The World Bank-funded project, being executed in three phases, has been taken up at a total estimate of Rs.19.52 crore.
The entire harbour area has been divided into three segments and a large number of building workers have been pressed into service at each unit. Once completed, it will be a boon to the fishermen of the district. The project includes construction of slip way, power room, winch room, and boat repair yard in the first phase at an estimate of Rs.7.88 crore.
The second phase provides infrastructure such as a chilling plant, fish processing unit, and two sumps at an estimate of Rs.6.89 crore. The daily capacity of the chilling plant would be 30 tonnes and the fishermen would be able top handle the fishes hygienically, sources told The Hindu on Saturday.
The third phase of the programme, which was taken up recently, pertains to construction of effluent treatment plant. Based on Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology, the work pertains to erection and commissioning of the ETP. It could handle one million litres of effluent per day and is executed on directly build, operate and transfer (DBOT) basis.
Mr. M. Chandrakasu, Minister for Agriculture, laying the foundation for the third phase recently, said that the project would be completed within a year. The modernisation project, sanctioned under the Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction Project, is being implemented through the Project Implementation Agency here, said Collector E. Valluvan.
Once completed, the harbour would ensure hygienic handling of fishes for a longer duration.
The efficiency of effluent treatment plant would be monitored during its maiden operation for a period of three months to rectify technical defects, if any. The repair and maintenance of boats would be more convenient to fishermen once the winch is pressed into service. Now, boats are moved manually to the repair yard.
